Poetry Forum

Summers End - Harvest

The pale cool barley
That is ever beautiful
As a flowing river.

Sylvia Lynd

O, how sad this seasons
Passed,
From sweet May days
To fields now done.
Which lie in state
Awaiting winters
Plough share.

Yellowing dry this
Land, once green.
Now fades in tune
With the seasons song,
Of warm summer days
And who's barns now
Stand in testiment
To the farmer's toil.
Harvest home, with
Sweat and tears.

To the church
All praise now given.
With sheaf and loaf
And fruits now lain,
Upon the alter with
Thanks to God.
The seasons done and
Dusted.
Harvest Praise.

Thou crownest the year
With thy goodness

Psalm IXV

Hello Greenman,

This is a nice poem : the harvest cycle is beautifully captured with a hint of forlorness for next seasons barley crop; and the faith that is required to sustain us both spiritually and physically for sustenance.

Your use of the word "Thou" is perhaps archaic to the ears of modern reader - but works in this context, I feel that if the modern reader is intelligent and cultured and any allusions encountered would make the effort ( if he is not slothful) to be enriched with words that have gone into disuse or out of favour.

There are poetic objects 'everywhere' and language grows to deepen the reading experience.

Arcadian

Firstly, Thank you for your kinds comments. The use of the word 'Thou' was simply because the two lines where taken from Psalm IXV in the King James Bible. Maybe I should check out the New International Bible, hopefully it may read better. Thanks once more for your kind comments.

Andy W....
Greenman
Middlesex, Uk.

Who is Sylvia Lynd? I think the quotation from Psalms that you have at the end would make a better epigraph.

With sheaf and loaf
And fruits now lied,
Upon the alter . . .

That should be lain upon the altar.

Jim

Who is Sylvia Lynd? I think the quotation from Psalms that you have at the end would make a better epigraph.


Jim, Sylvia Lynd was a lesser known poet and story writer who was born in 1888 and died in 1952. Her poetry is based on nature and is well worth hunting out. Also thanks for the replacement of the word 'lied' to read 'lain' this is a common oversight for me as I am dyslexic.

Cheers

Andy....
Middlesex.

Ummm don't know what I'm talking about, I love to write, love reading other peoples work , but wouldn't by any means of the imagination say I am an expert, but I didn't like the line in your poem "yellowing dry this, " just sounded wrong and my mind was re reading that line from then on .. so I could not concentrate on your poem from that moment on, before I read that line, I was thinking how nice it was sounding flowing lovely and i was captured, then ....that line sort of Jared didn't like it. x